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Snakes in Suits

US officials trying to sabotage ceasefire agreement on Syria


ITAR-TASS
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:56 UTC
Syrians at a market in Damascus, Syria
© EPA/YOUSSEF BADAWI
The United State tried to interpret the statement on cessation of military actions in Syria in a directly opposite manner, Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.

"We were confused when we heard first responses from Washington to the document. To be honest, we did not expect some officials to interpret this agreement in such a diametrically opposite way," Zakharova said. "Several officials in fact tried to cast doubt on the agreement signed by the presidents of Russia and United States," she added.

The diplomat added that this was a sabotage attempt. "The positive thing is that it was the first wave that we managed to break," she noted.
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Beaker

Stirring the Propaganda Pot: US intel director Clapper claims Syria 'has not declared' all chemical weapons


Sputnik
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:42 UTC
Chemical protective gear
© AFP 2016/ JM LOPEZ
In 2013, a massive chemical weapons attack was carried out in the Syrian suburb of Ghouta which killed more than 1,300 civilians. Both the Syrian government and the militant factions that oppose it blamed one another for the attack.

"We assess that Syria has not declared all the elements of its chemical weapons program to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)," Clapper stated. "Despite the creation of a specialized team and months of work by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to address gaps and inconsistencies in Syria's declaration, numerous issues remain unresolved."

Comment: Trotting out the chemical weapon gambit again as if preparing for excuses to implement 'Plan B' in Syria.

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Eye 2

Warmonger Breedlove: NATO ready to 'fight and win if necessary' against Russia


Sputnik
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:29 UTC
Philip Breedlove
© REUTERS/ Jonathan Ernst
Russia has repeatedly warned that NATO's attempts to expand on its borders, as well as more recently amass troops and equipment, constitute provocative acts that are contrary to previous agreements and can undermine regional and global stability.

"To counter Russia, EUCOM, working with allies and partners, is deterring Russia now and preparing to fight and win if necessary," Breedlove said.

Comment: This windbag Breedhate Breedlove just won't stop with the anti-Russia rhetoric:

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Snakes in Suits

Turkey claims it's not bound by Syria ceasefire, cites 'security threats'

Matthew Allen
Russia Insider
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 16:00 UTC
Davutoglu
Ankara reserves the right to break the ceasefire deal if it feels its security is "threatened".

However well-intentioned the looming ceasefire in Syria may be, it appears that some of the warring parties just aren't interested in peace.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced on Thursday that Ankara would not be bound by the Syrian ceasefire plan if its security was threatened, and would take "necessary measures" against Syrian Kurds which continue to be shelled, illegally, by Turkish forces from across the border. According to Davutoglu, "If threats arise against our national security from any of the sides, this ceasefire will not place its obligations on us. In such a case Turkey will ask no one permission and will do what needs to be done."
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Cheese

Sanctions prompt growth for Russian cheese business


Sputnik
Fri, 19 Feb 2016 15:32 UTC
russian french cheese
© Sputnik/ Valery Morev
French cheese has returned to Russia, after an enterprising farmer invited French cheesemakers from Corsica to his farm where they have passed on the secrets of making fine French cheese. French cheese was one of the casualties of the Russian counter-sanctions on food, agricultural products and raw materials from the EU and some other countries that were imposed in August 2014.

While some in Russia have lamented the paucity of Brie, Roquefort and other well-known cheeses, a resourceful farmer in Russia's Lipetsk region has turned the situation to his advantage. "If it's not possible to import French cheese, you can import French cheesemakers instead," Vladimir Borev told Sputnik about his idea.

"I invited French cheesemakers to my farm in the Lipetsk region, who gave lectures and seminars about cheesemaking," explained Borev, who has 18 goats, more than 30 sheep, ten cows and five horses on his farm.

"Every month we make a ton of goat's cheese, which is very popular. There is high demand for it even among French people living in Moscow, there are a lot of customers."

"At the moment we are building a dairy which can produce 12 tons of cheese a month."
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Info

Russian Foreign Ministry has 'no Plan B for Syrian settlement'


RT
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 15:43 UTC
Russian Su-24 bombers
© Dmitriy Vinogradov / Sputnik
Moscow is not discussing alternative plans for a political settlement in Syria, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has said. The Russian-American peace initiative is going to be formalized through a UN Security Council resolution.

"We're perplexed by our Western partners, the US included, mentioning the existence of some kind of 'Plan B,' Nothing is known on that one, we are considering no alternative plans," Bognanov told the 'Middle East: From violence to security' conference in Moscow.
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Attention

Some sanity for a change: EU Parliament adopts resolution calling for arms embargo against Saudi Arabia over Yemen


RT
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 15:26 UTC
Saudi-led air strike in Yemen
© Khaled Abdullah / Reuters
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution calling for the introduction of an arms embargo against Saudi Arabia over its operation in Yemen, The Greens political group reported on its website.

The resolution calls for an EU-wide arms embargo against the country, until alleged breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen have been investigated, the group wrote.

"The European Parliament's call for an arms embargo on Saudi Arabia is unprecedented and reflects growing frustration at the conduct of war in Yemen by the Saudi Air Force. Saudi Arabia is a top arms client of the UK and France, and there is evidence that these weapons have been used in gross violations of international law in Yemen, where thousands of civilians have been killed since the start of the war in March 2015," Greens/EFA foreign affairs spokesman Alyn Smith, who led efforts to get the amendment passed, said following the resolution's adoption.
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Gold Coins

Washington warns top banks to avoid new Russian bond issue


RT
Thu, 25 Feb 2016 14:31 UTC
russian bonds
© Andrew Burton / Reuters
The US government has urged major banks not to bid on a potentially lucrative but "politically risky" Russian bond deals, claiming it could undermine international sanctions against Moscow, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Unnamed sources told the media that the caution has been issued by the State Department and the Treasury following questions from some banks whether they were permitted to arrange a bond sale for Russia.

Washington's warnings not to bid on a Russian Eurobond deals won't strongly influence the possibility and cost of their placement, Russian presidential aide Andrei Belousov said on Thursday.

The Russian Finance Ministry has sent a prospectus to 25 Western investment banks and three Russian lenders as it wants to raise $3 billion by issuing Eurobonds. It may become the country's first debt placement on international markets since Western sanctions were rolled out on Russian entities in 2014.

Russia's dollar-denominated 2023 bond now has a yield of 4.53 percent, sliding from 4.9 percent in September 2013 when Moscow raised $7 billion, data from the Financial Times showed.

Comment: Clearly, profits be damned, don't do business with Russia. All common sense has gone out the window.

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Bad Guys

Kerry's Plan B for Syria follows the real goal of the US and Israel: Shatter Syria and Iraq into small pieces


Washington's Blog
Wed, 24 Feb 2016 00:05 UTC
isis in trucks

The West uses its proxy terrorists to further their goal of breaking up Iraq and Syria
The hawks in the U.S. and Israel decided long ago to break up Iraq and Syria into small fragments.

The Guardian noted in 2003:
President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt predicted devastating consequences for the Middle East if Iraq is attacked. "We fear a state of disorder and chaos may prevail in the region," he said.

***

They are probably still splitting their sides with laughter in the Pentagon. But Mr Mubarak and the [Pentagon] hawks do agree on one thing: war with Iraq could spell disaster for several regimes in the Middle East. Mr Mubarak believes that would be bad.The hawks, though, believe it would be good.

For the hawks, disorder and chaos sweeping through the region would not be an unfortunate side-effect of war with Iraq, but a sign that everything is going according to plan.

***
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Wolf

The new global financial Cold War: U.S. using IMF to 'split the world'

Michael Hudson
Counterpunch
Fri, 19 Feb 2016 12:50 UTC
Michael Hudson IMF economy

Michael Hudson
The Guns and Butter Interview

Suppose a country owes money to another nation's government or official agency. How can creditors collect, unless there's an international court and an enforcement system? The IMF and the World Bank were part of that enforcement system and now they're saying: 'We're not going to be part of that anymore. We're only working for the U.S. State Department and Pentagon. If the Pentagon tells the IMF it's okay that a country doesn't have to pay Russia or China, then now they don't have to pay, as far as the IMF is concerned.' That breaks up the global order that was created after World War II. The world is being split into two halves: the U.S. dollar orbit, and countries that the U.S. cannot control and whose officials are not on the U.S. payroll, so to speak. [...] Today we discuss his article, "The IMF Changes Its Rules to Isolate China and Russia."

[...]

Bonnie Faulkner: I'm so happy I was able to be there. That is a conference to remember, for sure. Well, I've been reading your article, "The IMF Changes Its Rules to Isolate China and Russia." It rings an alarming bell about the implications of rule changes at the International Monetary Fund, the IMF, which makes loans to governments. Before we discuss these IMF rule changes specifically, what precipitated these drastic policy shifts at the IMF?

Michael Hudson: There are a number of policy shifts. The first shift was that - In the past the IMF has not made loans to countries that are in default to governments. That's because in the past, the government in question was the U.S. Government. Since World War II almost all international financial bailout or stabilization loans by the IMF and World Bank have involved the U.S. Government, in conjunction with consortia of U.S. banks.
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